Trayvon Martin: Why Is the Zimmerman Family Getting Preferential Treatment?

I just watched George Zimmerman’s bond hearing, and I was shocked to see that Zimmerman’s family members were permitted to testify by telephone. Where is the evidence that their lives are in danger? All of the protests have been peaceful so far. Why the exaggerated fear that somehow African Americans will use violence against Zimmerman and his family? And why is the court going along with it?

If George’s father Robert and his brother Robert, Jr. are so fearful of all the scary black people out there, why have they been willing to make multiple appearances on television and radio programs? Robert, Sr. appeared with his face hidden, although I don’t know why that was the case. Robert, Jr., the brother, was on a high-profile CNN program twice, and was in no way disguised.

Who was more hated than Casey Anthony and her family? They even experienced having people picketing their home and screaming “baby killer” at them when they came out of their house. Yet they were not permitted to testify by telephone. Even child witnesses in abuse cases have to come to court to testify. Occasionally they are allowed to testify by video-conference, but I have never heard of telephone testimony before. The implication was that George Zimmerman and his family are in danger comparable to testifying in a mafia trial.

The state permitted George Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara to hold a mini-trial during a bond hearing! An investigator was called to the stand and cross examined about the wording of the probable cause affidavit.

“Evidence” was introduced to indicate that George Zimmerman had two vertical cuts on the back of his head, and O’Mara got the investigator to say that that is consistent with Zimmerman’s story that Trayvon Martin banged his head on concrete. How would that cause two vertical scratches? Isn’t it more likely those scratches were caused by Martin’s fingernails as he tried to defend himself from his mysterious stalker?

The ultimate insult came when George Zimmerman was permitted to take the stand and “apologize” to Trayvon Martin’s parents. He was also permitted to claim that he did not know how old Trayvon was and that he believed Trayvon was only a little younger than he (George) is. Yet, on one of the police tapes, Zimmerman is heard saying that he thinks Trayvon is in his “late teens.” Zimmerman is 28.

Why is Zimmerman apologizing now? As Ben Crump, the Martin family attorney said afterwards, this was nothing but a self-serving act on Zimmerman’s part. It has been fifty days since Zimmerman shot Martin. He never apologized through his attorneys. His father and brother never expressed any sorrow at the young man’s death. Instead they tried to paint Martin as a thug who beat up on their son and brother. George Zimmerman created a private website, and he did not express remorse or sorrow on the site. In fact he posted photos of graffiti that had been posted on a black student center building and signs from a rally led by Koran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones. Why didn’t the prosecution object to this self-serving display?

In the end, the judge granted George Zimmerman $150,000 bail, meaning that he only needs to pay $15,000 and he is free. He does have to have GPS tracking, but he will be permitted to leave the state and keep his location secret.

I think we are seeing the writing on the wall. I am very concerned that George Zimmerman is going to get off on the stand your ground defense. I think it is time for those who care about justice for Trayvon Martin to start marching again.

As well, I can’t believe that they let him apologize in court. I saw on one of the morning talks that he reached out to the Martin family’s lawyer yesterday because he wanted to apologize and the lawyer said the family wasn’t interested in participating in this obviously self serving move. He’s had over a month and hasn’t said a word to the family and now, when his bail is at stake he wants to apologize? It’s disgusting that the judge allowed this. Hasn’t this family been through enough? I would have left the courtroom.

I agree, but it wasn’t much of an apology, was it? — “I’m sorry for the loss of your son,” is pretty much what Zimmerman said, which sounds like something I could say to a distant co-worker/acquaintance about someone/something, some problem I had no involvement in.

If he sincerely wanted to apologize he could have done so earlier on his web site, or even waited til after the trial — regardless of the trial’s outcome — and said “I am sorry that I caused you so much pain by shooting and killing your son.”

Which he has already admitted to — shooting and killing Trayvon Martin. So I guess it would be not be good for him to say these words before trial, but he could have shown some restraint (not shown on the night he shot Trayvon) and waited til after the trial, when it would no longer make any difference to the court as to his guilt or innocence.

So somebody was taking a picture of this guy’s bleeding head three minutes after he shot Trayvon Martin? Why wasn’t this person doing compressions on Martin? The photographer was taking a picture to cover Zimmerman’s ass, Zimmerman was posing for the picture, and who was helping Trayvon Martin? I doubt that the EMTs were there within three minutes.

We don’t even know who took the photo or when it was taken. I think it was completely irresponsible for the media to release it right before the bond hearing and with no evidence that that is really George Zimmerman.

I also heard this morning that the FBI is claiming they can’t identify the voice on the 911 tape. Yet two voice experts said it couldn’t have been George? Why aren’t they being talked to by the FBI? Something is very wrong here. The “evidence” is coming out in rumors while the state prevents the media from seeing the real evidence–especially the autopsy of Trayvon.

Did they look under Trayvon’s fingernails to see if he had scrapings from Zimmerman’s head? Those could be defensive wounds. Did Trayvon have any bruises or cuts from being in a struggle?

And why is the attitude that George Zimmerman had a right to stand his ground but Martin didn’t? Trayvon had no clue who this guy was who was following him and talking to him. He probably died without having any idea why he was being harassed.

I’m sure the prosecutors will bring all this up. The defense keeps trying to dirty the jury pool. That’s part of their job these days, it seems. I do find it amazing that so many people don’t see the racist dog whistles in some of this, however. For some reason, every one is afraid of the New Black Panthers which is a little radical group that no one takes seriously. They raised problems here after Katrina and the black community was trying to get them to leave the state, as an example. But, no one finds any problems with a neo-nazi group showing up. I really hope the judge can keep a container on all of this and there’s a fair trial.

The investigator testified under oath. They are now locked into what he said, according to the attorneys on HLN. They never even objected to testimony about the facts of the case. The only issue here was whether Zimmerman was a flight risk, and the prosecutor let the defense turn it into a George Zimmerman is innocent show trial.

Fox Nation is saying the thing was “inspiring”. Thank the wisdom beings for that law that says criminals can’t profit from the crimes or I’d smell a book tour and right wing lecture circuit coming. I suppose that probably won’t stop the father, however. Hopefully, the forensic evidence is solid. That way all these leaks can either be proven or disproven.

The posts on here are so one sided it is pathetic. The photo was taken 3 minutes after the shot was fired by a neighbor who witnessed some of the incident. I don’t know if this is the same eye witness who gave a statement that he saw Martin on top of Zimmerman banging Zimmerman’s head of the concrete. The state’s case appears to be very weak. The investigator was called to testify and lawyers are paid to inquire. There is nothing strange about this. NBC news reported that their investigation showed the photo was genuine and the person who took it spoke to a reporter concerning the circumstances of the photo. There are going to be a lot of people eating crow when this case is dismissed or Zimmerman is found not guilty. The denial shown by the pro-lynching crowd is palpable. Zimmerman stated that he was walking away and Martin hit him in the nose knocking him to the ground and then began pounding his head on the pavement. There is substancial evidence that this is true including Zimmerman’s injuries and eye witness testimony. I have not seen any evidence that Zimmerman’s rendition is false. I hear lots of argument and assumptions, but no evidence.

The post is one-sided because I have a point of view. This isn’t a newspaper and we don’t claim to be objective.

The photo was not obtained by NBC. It was given to ABC. Why was a “neighbor” allowed into the crime scene? Police were at the scene immediately after the gunshot If they let a civilian into the crme scene and allowed him to take photos, that’s shocking and totally inappropriate. The person should have been arrested for that.

The police should have taken photos of any injuries at the station. If they didn’t, why not? It’s evidence. The police and Zimmerman both assumed he would get away with it. They all thought Trayvon was a criminal. That’s called profiling.

In additon, from another site:As part of the testimony this morning, a police investigator confirmed that Zimmerman suffered head injuries:

“His injuries are consistent with trauma to the back of his head,” investigator Dale Gilbreath said. “There is two lacerations to the back of his head.”

Additionally, the police appear to have no new evidence that Zimmerman initiated the confrontation with Martin:

An investigator for a Florida prosecutor’s office testified on Friday morning that he has no additional evidence to show that George Zimmerman was the one who confronted Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26.

Investigator Dale Gilbreath said he and his fellow investigator, T.C. O’Steen, relied on the 911 call that Zimmerman made before the confrontation along with an interview five weeks after the fact with one of Martin’s friends who said she was on the phone with Martin when the incident began.

Zimmerman’s attorney asked Gilbreath several times whether there was anything else to prove that Zimmerman “confronted” Martin, as the investigators wrote in a sworn affidavit filed April 11 with the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida.

“You have nothing to support the confrontation suggestion?” defense attorney Mark O’Mara said.

Any statements made at the bond hearing may be used by the defense or prosecution to impeach any witnesses who are called. The admissions of a lead investigator at any hearing are admissible evidence at trial. Inconsistent statements are very important evidence that are used both as substantive evidence and to impeach a witness.

Yes, Mike, and Zimmerman’s lies on the stand can also be used. He lied when he claimed he thought Trayvon was just a little young than he (Zimmerman). On the call to police he very clearly said he thought Trayvon was in his “late teens” and referred to him as a “kid.”

He can also be asked why he insisted on giving an “apology” that Trayvon’s family had clearly informed him they did not want to hear.

It will also be interesting to find out about the e-mail that police found in Zimmerman’s cell phone that according to the prosecutor said something about Tracy Martin. Zimmerman looked disconcerted when asked about that.

BB…..Thanks for posting on this. I watched the bail hearing and I was amazed.

And the dog whistling is so loud, it’s deafening.

The Arthur hearing should reveal enough evidence to tell us where this going, or it could even set Zimmerman free. I hope that doesn’t happen, but with the “Stand your Ground” law that is a very real possiblity.

My heart goes out to the parents of Trayvon Martin, I know they’re suffering mightily.

I expect mass protests at the FL State Legislature (that should be happening now, but I understand the need to defuse the powder keg in the interim) if he gets off. These SYG laws need to go, everywhere. If they go down in FL, I think there’s a good chance other State Legislatures might consider repeal. I hope the protest will be peaceful Civil Disobedience. but I’ve taken part in Civil disobedience actions, you probably have too, and protests can go south really quick, (usually law enforcement takes it south) but that’s a risk that must and I think will be taken.

At least Florida is reviewing the stand your ground laws. It’s one thing to be in your house and to try to defend yourself against some one who is breaking and entering and you really feel threatened. It’s completely another thing for some vigilante to be patrolling a neighborhood with a gun. He should’ve stayed in his car and waited for the police. I just don’t get people that think that property is more valuable than lives. We shouldn’t have to go back to the Wild West days because of the NRA’s obsession with making sure the entire country is packing and sending them money. Even Jan Brewer just vetoed that bill that would allow guns on public property. I wouldn’t want to teach in a university knowing a bunch of people are walking around with guns and there could be a shoot out at any time.

The “stand your ground” defense is misunderstood. For decades most of the states in the West and the Federal Courts , through the common law, have held that one does not have to retreat before using deadly force. States in the Eastern US have traditionally made the defendant retreat if retreat was available. In Florida, the common law was codified in Florida Statute 776.012. You can read it in Wiki. I really don’t think the Florida Statue has much to do with this case. If Zimmerman’s statement is believed by the trier of fact, there was no duty to retreat when someone is banging your head on concrete regardless of the statute. The deciding facts in this case will be the circumstances of the shooting. Whether or not a neighborhood watch member should have stopped his or her car is irrelevant. Zimmerman’s story is that he was returning to his car when he was approached from behind and attacked. Does anyone actually believe that he would be guilty of murder in such circumstances? Finally, for those who cannot count to 10, there are 10 amendments in the bill of rights, not 9 and one of them grants citizens the right to have and bear arms. Zimmerman has not been charged with a firearms violation and the reports from the news are that he was carrying legally.

There is no way Zimmerman’s head was banged on concrete. That would have caused a lot more damage than the two small cuts shown in the video. He would have had to go to the hospital to be checked for brain damage. Having your head banged on concrete could cause serious internal bleeding. Zimmerman goofed bigtime when he made that claim. You seem to have missed the fact that the prosecutor and the investigator both said that Zimmerman’s injuries did not match his description of what happened.

It is much more likely that Trayvon hit George with his can of iced tea (the only weapon he had to defend himself against a man with a gun) or that they are defensive wounds from Trayvon’s fingernails.

You seem to be forgetting that Trayvon also had a right to “stand his ground” against a mysterious man with a gun who was following him and would not explain why. It’s highly likely that Zimmerman pulled out his gun at some point.

We’ll find out eventually when all this is sorted out. IMHO, Zimmerman and his family are already getting preferential treatment, based on nothing. If any family had a reason to fear public outrage, it was the Anthony family.

Knowing this is Florida, I expect Zimmerman to get off with the stand your ground defense. Then we’ll have to see if the feds are able to charge him with anything.

She has written all this total history crap, but has never attended not one single ethnic studies programs – not one Black studies, not one Chicano studies, and not one Red studies
Class. Like everybody else I have low expectations when it comes to her “history”.

Obama was born in Hawaii — and mostly grew up in Hawaii.There are really different rules there — he went to Punahoe and therefore he could get into just about any college or university.

I suppose Coulter also was born with the silver spoon of affirmative action in her mouth. She has gotten as far as she has because generations of women fought for the right to be 1. educated, 2. go to college, 3 go to law school etc. etc.

These GOP pit bull females are either stupid of the white male’s history or they aren’t really females.

The gist of Coulter’s blurb was that the KKK and Southern Racists supported and passed laws prohibiting Negroes from having firearms to keep them from protecting themselves. This is a fact, jack. Take time to read the article at http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html Hell, Blacks were prevented from carrying canes. “Starting in 1751, the French Black Code required Louisiana colonists to stop any blacks, and if necessary, beat “any black carrying any potential weapon, such as a cane.” If a black refused to stop on demand, and was on horseback, the colonist was authorized to “shoot to kill.”

Listen Jackass, maybe you should read up on Nixon’s Southern Strategy where most of those racist Democrats became racist Republicans where they were welcomed with open arms. In fact it started earlier than that but that cast the die for this generation.

With respect to Ralph’s comment. He doesn’t address my post except to call names which is the symptom of a small mind. What does Nixon’s Southern strategy have to do with the KKK and Southern racists passing laws that prohibited blacks from owning firearms during the 19th and early 20th century? At least try to make a modicum of sense instead of calling names.

Right, well, in 2012, no horseback needs to be involved, if a black person refuses to stop on demand and dance attendance on his stalker, the stalker’s authorized himself to shoot to kill, and that’s fine by you. Where’s the logic in that? You think if Trayvon Martin had had a firearm and used it to defend himself against our trigger-happy hero all of the people who are trying to demonize him and his sinister pack of weaponized skittles and glorify his killer would suddenly be okay with him? Really?

To the shock of most sentient beings, Facts died Wednesday, April 18, after a long battle for relevancy with the 24-hour news cycle, blogs and the Internet. Though few expected Facts to pull out of its years-long downward spiral, the official cause of death was from injuries suffered last week when Florida Republican Rep. Allen West steadfastly declared that as many as 81 of his fellow members of theU.S. House of Representatives are communists.

Facts held on for several days after that assault — brought on without a scrap of evidence or reason — before expiring peacefully at its home in a high school physics book. Facts was 2,372.

I was sick to my stomach during that hearing. It was a travesty. Especially when the judge said that the incidents with violence were usual. I think if I lost my temper in a cop’s presence, they would have had me on the ground, pepper sprayed, tasered and arrested. And I am an unarmed old lady.

You know, the law is an ass. And this SYG law is a double ass. Also, the prosecutors are utterly incompetent. I hate what happened here, in that an unarmed kid was shot and killed, but Z may well not be guilty under the law. And maybe he wouldn’t be found guilty under any law, since it apepars there is some sort of viable self-defense claim. And the prosecutors suck. Their affidavit in support of the charges was disastrously devoid of facts. I don’t like saying this, but I don’t believe they have a case. As for bail, Z is entitled under the law. He got no more nor less than what was fair.

We shall see what the Arthur hearing holds, but I have to say these prosecutors are beyond useless. They need a rudimentary course in cross-examination, for starters. Wow. I always thought Florida was a reasonably advanced state. Well, I was dead wrong. if the prosecutors can’t definitively identify the voice calling for help, or if the defense has an expert to say the voice is Z’s, then this case is done.

Trayvon’s family asked for an arrest. They got it. That may be all they get. So far, I have seen nothing that allows me to believe the prosecution has any case whatsoever. And the law is strongly in favor of the surviving combatant.

This is a nation that supports the rule of law. This is an attempt to have everyone treated equally and to let folks know the consequences of their actions or failure to act. Some laws make little sense (take a look at the tax code if you want a good laugh) and others are necessary to have a civil society. The prosecutors in this case may well have been influenced by the ranting and raving of race baiters such as Sharpton and Jackson. I mean this case is so over hyped, The leading cause of death for young black males is homicide and the great percentage of killers are black. It was a tragedy to be sure but is really no different than hundreds of other homicides. The press also bears some responsibility for sensationalizing this matter. The use of photos of Martin that were taken years ago instead of those take recently and NBC’s deletion of parts of Zimmerman’s call to the police are but two examples. Rumors abounded that had no basis in fact. The video that was shown at the police station was ran with the comments that no injury was seen but a more detailed shot showed two abrasions to the back of the head. The final nail in this coffin is that the prosecution, through its investigator, has admitted that Zimmerman was treated for injuries right after the incident. By this time, there is simply no question as to whether or not Zimmerman was injured. One can argue about the seriousness of the injuries but not whether or not they occurred. The prosecution admits Zimmerman was injured. This is a criminal case and the elements of the crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and so much of what is discussed is irrelevant. It is probable that the reason the reasonable cause affidavit is so lacking in relevant evidence is because so few have been discovered.

We aren’t a nation that respects the rule of law anymore. If we were, we would not be able to be spied upon by the government, with all our e-mails, tweets, etc., being collected by the NSA. We would not be forced to go through naked body scanners at the airport if this nation respected the rule of law. The President would not be able to claim the right to assassinate American citizens if this nation respected the rule of law.

I could give hundreds more examples. This country is no longer a democracy or a representative republic. We live in a corporatocracy under a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations. We no longer have any semblance of protection from our government.

You are confused. The new photo was not part of the video. The recently released photo showing blood on Zimmerman’s head was taken by a neighbor 3 minutes after the shooting. It is not a “so called picture”.

Have you found out yet how this “neighbor” was permitted to take a photo in the middle of a crime scene when even the EMT’s were forbidden to take pictures? Why would the Sanford police allow a crime scene to be contaminated in this way?

Did you know that police did not even mark off this crime scene with yellow tape? Why do you think they didn’t do that?

Why clinch at straws. We don’t know whether the cops were even there when the photo was taken and if they were it is even better evidence that Zimmerman was attacked. You call the person who took the photo, then call the cops who were there. This is not NCIS or CSI. This is real small town criminal investigations.

Give it a rest. This post is three days old now. As I have already said, this is Florida. I expect Zimmerman to get off on stand your ground immunity, unless the judge decides he’s slightly concerned about Zimmerman lying on the stand. He’ll have to take the stand again to prove self-defense, so he’ll have more opportunities to produced stupid lies and inconsistencies.

We’ll have to wait and see. It could be months before the Arthur hearing.

Why some folks suggest that being searched before boarding airlines is proof of “1984” is beyond me. There are a group of folks who tend to marry their first cousins who seem to breed a large number of ignorant, fanatical mad men and women. These folks delight in killing innocents in the name of an 8th Century pedophile and murderer and like to fly planes into buildings among other things. This is not “Rollerball”, Without corporations, life would be short and not so sweet. No autos, planes, fresh fruit and veggies in the winter, houses, beds, computers, TVs, No Microsoft, not Apple, no gasoline, not toiled paper, no commode, no power tools etc. Corporations are formed for various reasons but they enable businesses to do things that individuals and partnerships simply are not capable of doing. I mean how many mom and pop airlines or implement businesses are there? John and Martha’s Catapillar just ain’t going to happen. Ranting and raving at corporations is futile. Who is going to buy Apple and turn it into a dba? Who is going to risk everything without corporate protection from liability? If there is anything that is limiting civil rights it is not corporations but Big government. Go to a law library sometime and look at the United States Code, the CFR and several state statutes. Then check out the city and county codes and ordinances. For some reason, many legislators and executives in government think that they must pass new laws on a regular basis. This is called being progressive. It would be a pleasant change if those in charge of the government spent as much time deciding which laws we don’t need as writing new ones. Corporations are not evil, but sometimes they are controlled by folks who you wouldn’t want to invite over for dinner without hiding the sterling silverware. But, then again, you better hide the china and the silverware when professional politicians grace your table.

Actually, I’m a Financial economist … with a doctorate and I teach corporate finance as well as study financial markets. I think you have a somewhat naive view of huge corporations that basically have monopoly/oligopoly power, dispersed ownership with no vested ownership responsibility, and shortsighted management that is after short term profits at the expensive of their own companies, production, and long term benefit. Economies of scale are only present in a very few industries and many of those really do much better when they’re public goods instead of private ones. Airlines are a really good example. I am more frightened of the crazy religious fundamentalists in this country who appear to want to pass all kinds of laws about what I can and can’t do with my body, frankly. They’ve been doing whacky things for years like blue laws, etc.

But, lecture away … you’re probably not going to get much sympathy here

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